BoMB

Hello all, I am sure many of you know about this problem. A friend told me that the sunroof drain hoses are clogged. Why? He's seen it before, and as a result I am finding water on the floor of the passenger side floor (and a bit on the driver's side door). I called the local dealer, he agreed, and he said it's a common problem, so without looking at it, he's pretty sure it's clogged.

Question for everyone...should this fix be covered by warranty? Thanks in advance.

ua549

I would not expect any kind of cleaning to be covered by warranty.

Mago 51

Interesting topic indeed.
No probs so far but would be good to know where those drains are. Any scheme avail?
Had this issue in my former Audi and it is better to prevent with some pre-cleaning.

Cheers,

BoMB

Interesting. I guess I didn't see it as simply cleaning, as much as I see they are not designed to clog and cause water to leak into the car. Yes, they do, and it's circumstantial, but I wasn't sure about this. Thanks.

BoMB

Called the dealer...Price quote is $687! One hour to diagnose and then 2 hours to remove the fender liners and clear any blockage/obstruction. How lovely!

ua549

A thin snake may work just as well.

juanmor40

.. There are plenty of video in YouTube for all the Benz classes. ALL use the same system

Take some time, do it at home, and take your significant other for a nice dinner.
NOTE: do NOT use compressed air, it can disconnect the drain internally if heavily clogged and $687 will be the tip for the mechanic.

SpeedracerZ

Haven't run into this yet in in e43 but in previous cars I've ran a thick string trimmer line down each line to clean them out. Usually there is a drain at each corner of the sunroof frame you can access from above.

juanmor40

You can run the string both ways, from the top or from below.

The G Man

The rattles they caused will be free of charge.

Cao Black

Has anyone ever tried computer / keyboard compressed air? Or even a compressor set to a very low pressure.

The_Judge

How do you get a piece of string down the drain tube? Isn't it rather narrow?

juanmor40

How much wider you need it to be? Perhaps you are looking at the wrong place?

Did you watch the videos?
I can fit a narrow pencil through it

The_Judge

Yeah, i did, and neither of them include anything about running a string down the narrow, 4- to 5-foot long plastic tube that runs from the sunroof through the front roof support and out the bottom of the car, where it drains. I can't image any way to get long piece of limp string down that tube from its top and out its bottom. Of course, it would be a very useful tool if you can do it, so please explain how. Thanks. .

juanmor40

The_Judge

Thanks, very helpful!

However, what is used in the video is not “string“ is as I understand the term (i.e., made of cotton or jute, etc., thin and very limp so it can be tied in knots).
Rather, it’s a long, thin piece of flexible plastic such as that used in Weed Eaters and other trimmers, obviously stiff enough to push down the long drain tube. Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/28fu49lp



Doug Collins
Hermosa Beach, CA

juanmor40

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors...s/N-5yc1vZbx8i

That is the vocabulary used to sell them

BoMB

I am lucky I can start my car...but I am going to give this a shot. Not worth close to $700 and then feel like I got screwed, LOL.

MNIAW

FWIW, VW and Audi owners filed a class action lawsuit and won.

For this very same problem.

VW Website